SaveFirst

During the month of February, I worked several nights with Impact Alabama and their SaveFirst initiative. I spent a Saturday (and Thursday night) in January training on all the IRS rules for tax returns. I even did the intermediate training so I could do a few more things than most volunteers, like itemize, quality check returns, etc. I participated as part of this year's placement with the Junior League of Birmingham. We (the JLB) have worked with them for many years, helping low income families to get the appropriate amount of tax refunds. It's really unbelievable how many of them have been taken advantage of by well-known tax prep places trying to fraudulently increase their refund and thereby increasing their fees. I didn't have any crazy stories this year, but I heard plenty during my training.

This is a great program and so many families benefit from having trained volunteers help them prepare their taxes for free and be sure they get all the credits they deserve, while not allowing them to file under the wrong filing status or claim dependents they don't have.

Here's some soundbites from the SaveFirst website:

     This was the sixth year of the SaveFirst intiative.
    
     Last year over 450 trained students and volunteers "prepared tax returns for more than 4,300 families at sixteen sites statewide."

     The team helped families "secure $8.2 million in tax refunds, saving them $1.3 million in commercial tax preparation fees."

While in the process of this busy month, I always question why I do these things. Looking back though, it was great to get to help people that really need it!